Britney Spears, Michael Jackson and the rock group Butthole Surfers.
No, that’s not an answer to a trivia question.
So, what do these entertainers have in common? Some readers want to see less of them in the Akron Beacon Journal. Readers also knocked Harry Potter and Doonesbury.
Dwight Harter of Cuyahoga Falls objected to the full-page photograph of Britney in Thursday’s Enjoy! section. He said the 19-year-old’s clothing — or lack of clothing — was inappropriate for a family newspaper.
“There are no morals left in this world,” he said. “That’s why we have so much AIDS and abortion.”
Allene Papp of the Portage Lakes area said she had a hard time looking at last Sunday’s review of Michael Jackson’s new CD, which included a large drawing of Jackson. In her mind, he preys on innocent kids and shouldn’t be given prominent coverage.
“He isn’t an idol,” she said.
Two readers objected to a column in Enjoy! that included an interview with members of the rock group Butthole Surfers. One angry reader asked the rhetorical question, “What kind of a paper puts that out for kids to read?” before slamming down the phone.
In an e-mail, Karen Salmons criticized a band member’s comments about drugs. “When every last moral compass is completely shattered and society falls flat on its face, maybe we’ll regret we never stood up to the news and entertainment industries.”
Patricia Bachmann of Copley objected to a recent Premier cover story on Harry Potter. “The Harry Potter books and films are destroying our children and implanting witchcraft and satanic ideas in their minds. Please do not continue to endorse such degradation to our country.”
Ellie Owens, a longtime Akron reader, said last Sunday’s Doonesbury comic strip contained several panels that poked fun at Christianity. She said the strip doesn’t belong on the comics page and she was offended by its creator, Garry Trudeau.
“As far as I’m concerned, he stands with Osama bin Laden.”
For many weeks, nearly all of the feedback I received concerned the attacks of Sept. 11 and the coverage of the anthrax spores in letters. Suddenly, however, the calls and e-mails from readers seemed to shift to the newspaper’s entertainment coverage.
If entertainment serves as a nation’s diversion in a time of crisis, these readers appear to be stressed out rather than calmed down.
For a response to these comments, I talked to Kathleen M. Fraze, assistant managing editor for features, whose responsibilities include the comics, Enjoy!, Premier and the daily Arts & Living section. Here is what she had to say:
On Britney: “Britney Spears is a major pop music act, and this is the grownup package she’s selling to her audience, on stage and in her commercials. The picture we ran was probably more revealing than folks who remember her as a Mouseketeer expected, but it certainly wasn’t pornographic. It was the Britney Spears that audiences see today.”
On the Butthole Surfers: “The Butthole Surfers have been part of the music scene for more than 20 years, and the media can’t ignore them just because we might not like their name.”
On Michael Jackson: “Sunday’s story about Michael Jackson dealt with his new CD. Period. It was a music story, not a story about lifestyles and rumor.”
On Harry Potter: “The huge financial success of the Harry Potter books and the widespread anticipation of the Harry Potter movie are big stories in the world of entertainment right now. Many readers are fans of Harry Potter and can’t get enough information about the books and the movie.
“Reporting news about Harry Potter does not mean we endorse witchcraft and Satanism, no more than reporting news about earthquakes means we endorse natural disasters. Harry Potter is a news event right now, and our job is to report the news.”
On Doonesbury: “Trudeau’s comic strip isn’t for everybody. Hopefully, there are other comics in the paper that might appeal to readers who don’t like him.”
So, the readers speak and the newspaper responds.
From my perspective, Britney’s outfit was revealing, but no more so than the ever-present Pepsi commercial.
Michael Jackson is a superstar whose music can’t be ignored. I think any rock group that calls itself Butthole Surfers doesn’t want to be taken seriously.
I think kids have been reading about wizards and sorcery for decades. And Doonesbury has a small, but intensely loyal following.
For me, it’s all simply entertainment and a newspaper has an obligation to appeal to as many tastes as possible.
What do you think?
If you agree or disagree, send me an e-mail or give me a call. I prefer those methods of communicating instead of the regular mail. There is less stress that way.
